Luigi Gatti (1740-1817) - Messe A-Dur 'Schopfungsmesse' (c.1805)
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Composer: Luigi Maria Baldassare Gatti (1740-1817)
Work: Messe A-Dur 'Schopfungsmesse' (c.1805)
Performers: Anna Korondi (soprano); Annette Markert (alto); Yves SaeIens (tenor); KIaus Mertens (bass); Dresden Kreuzchor & Philharmonie; Roderich KreiIe
Painting: Wolfgang-Adam Töpffer (1766-1847) - Le Rétablissement du culte en France après la Révolution (c.1812)
Image in high resolution: https://flic.kr/p/2iz2ezt
Further info: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/HAYDN-GATTI/dp/B0021BUUX8
Listen free: http://open.spotify.com/album/2yjAcSr7b0rhslSYWewm4B
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Luigi (Maria Baldassare) Gatti
(Mantua, 11 June 1740 - Salzburg, 1 March 1817)
Italian composer. He probably received his earliest musical training in Mantua, where his first opera, Alessandro nell’Indie was well received in 1768 and where he became a tenor at the church of S Barbara. The maestro di cappella, G.B. Pattoni, described him as a ‘reliable tenor … as well as a good organist and composer’ (29 January 1768). In 1770 he met the Mozarts, then on their first Italian journey, and copied one of Wolfgang’s masses (probably k66). In 1773 he competed unsuccessfully to become Pattoni’s successor and on 16 July 1779 was appointed vice-maestro of S Barbara. For the inauguration of the Teatro Scientifico, the private theatre of the Reale Accademia of Mantua, he wrote the cantata Virgilio e Manto (1769). He served the academy as secondo maestro until 1783, composing occasional works such as Il certame of 1771 (with dialogue spoken by members of the academy). Even after he left Mantua, his music was performed at the academy: his oratorio La madre dei Maccabei (1775), revised and enlarged, had 14 performances at the Teatro Scientifico in 1793. In 1778 Salzburg Cathedral began negotiations with Gatti, though he did not want to leave Mantua then for more than two or three months. On 14 February 1783 he became the last Italian Kapellmeister of the Salzburg court and cathedral. Leopold Mozart had sought the post and his disparaging remarks may reflect jealousy (letter to Wolfgang, 12 October 1782). However, Wolfgang showed respect for Gatti when, on 22 January 1783, he asked his father to have Gatti procure an Italian libretto for him. In Salzburg Gatti directed the chapel boys’ choir (after 1796), taught composition (his principal student was J.J. Fuetsch), composed much sacred music for the cathedral and compiled a thematic catalogue of the music in its library.
He composed a mass based on Haydn’s Creation (autograph in I-OS) and also adapted Haydn’s oratorio for keyboard. He is mentioned in other Mozart correspondence (1782-1786) and in letters of Nannerl to Breitkopf & Härtel (1801-1804), when Gatti was helping her locate some of her brother’s scores. Gatti also wrote letters to this publisher (1803-1806), which before World War II were in their archive. Few of Gatti’s works were published in his lifetime, though a large number are extant in manuscript copies (especially in A-Sd, I-OS and A-KR). A good proportion of these manuscripts are autographs, frequently showing extensive revision. The works reveal a composer of great facility and assuredness. His instrumental pieces have the melodic fluidity and lyricism that would be expected of a composer whose roots lay in vocal, and especially operatic, writing. They contain considerable rhythmic flexibility, and the suavity is enhanced by frequent charming and surprising details. He composed in the forms typical of his time, but achieved a fine variety through changes of texture and rhythm so that phrases are not often repeated exactly. There are also many interesting harmonic excursions, particularly at the beginning of development sections. Gatti had a predilection for the oboe, although he was not trained on that instrument. While there is little interest in virtuosic display, per se, his instrumental parts are always interesting and often challenging. He did not generally explore extremes of range, but his F major oboe quartet (dating from about 1806) takes the oboe part up to g''' and is one of the earliest such passages written for the instrument. #ClassicalMusic